Chapter 35: chapter 35

Chapter Thirty-FiveThis cripple doesn’t need you.The words resounded in Yash’s head days after Maya had stormed out of his cabin. His heart ached at the pain he’d seen on her face and the raw, gaping wound of their past he’d felt opening a chasm between them. His mother had a lot to answer for. And so, did he. He’d been so consumed in his own perception of the situation that he’d never sought to find out more. His father’s death, their mounting medical debt and his own unemployment had only provided fertile ground for the feelings of inferiority and rejection to bloom. And he’d let it. He’d wallowed in it and nursed a grudge all these years not knowing what Maya had gone through at the same time. Not knowing that the pit he’d clawed his way up from was nothing compared to the abyss she’d been faced with. Yash stared, unseeingly, at the laptop screen. So, where did they go from here? Nowhere. He pushed back from his desk and walked to the window he’d been staring out of the previous night when she’d come in to check on him.You looked lost.He was. He didn’t think he’d ever felt this lost even when he’d lost his father and his life had spiraled out of control. To think he’d done this to another human being, knowingly or unknowingly, the guilt and shame was a stain on his soul that he feared would never leave him. A knock on his door had him turning around to see Malvika framed in the doorway.“Tell me,” he said, curtly. “She got her volunteers. Every last one of them,” Malvika said, looking bemused. “The woman is a force of nature.”That she was. Yash nodded in response. “We shoot day after tomorrow. Maya is working on getting the photographer and stylist in place. Kanak and she will do the script and direction.” Yash nodded again, feeling like a bobblehead doll. His restless fingers reached for the stapler on his desk and started fiddling with it as he waited for Malvika to go away.“She’s something else, isn’t she?” Malvika seemed unusually chatty today. “Was there anything else you needed?” he asked, brusquely. “If not, I have work to get back to as I am sure you do too. At least, I hope you do.”Undeterred, Malvika came further into his cabin. “We should hire her.”Yash dropped the stapler. “Excuse me?”Malvika picked up the stapler and handed it back to him. He went back to flipping it. Over and over. “She would be a great asset to the company, Yash. She’s bright, innovative and thinks on her feet. Most importantly, she’s a people person. Everyone likes her.” Flip. Flip. Flip.The smooth metal of the stapler slid through his fingers as he stared at Malvika. “I thought you didn’t.” Malvika looked a little shamefaced at that. “I was reacting badly to consultants taking our project from my team. But there’s no denying they’re doing a brilliant job. Which is why I want her on my team. Then in the future, we don’t need consultants. Win-win.” Flip.  “Why would she leave her business and her partner and come join us?” he asked, stalling. “Because we will make her an offer that tempts her over to our side.” Malvika grinned, rubbing her hands together.“No,” Yash said, abruptly. “No tempting. If we want to use Social Butterfly’s services, we will contract work to them like we did this time.” “But Yash-“ “I said no,” he interrupted, harshly. “I don’t want to offer Maya a job here.” A small sound at the door had them glancing over. Kanak stood there, a file in her hands and bloody murder in her eyes. “Trying to poach my business partner, are we?” she asked, coolly.“If you’d been paying close attention to the conversation you were eavesdropping on, you’d know that I said I didn’t want to offer her a job,” he shot back.Yash straightened to face her, his hand clenching around the stapler. Malvika looked from one angry face to another, her own confused and unsure. “I was just suggesting-“ Malvika ventured into the tense silence that fell.“I’d suggest you don’t suggest anything,” Kanak said, smoothly, flashing her a viciously bright smile. Flip.Kanak’s eyes went to the betraying nervous gesture, zeroing in on the grip he had on the stapler. Malvika cleared her throat. “Was there something you needed Kanak?” “An invoice that needs approval.” She handed the file she was holding to Malvika. “I couldn’t find you at your seat so tracked you down here.”“I’ll see to this,” Malvika said, taking the file and leaving with a last bewildered look at Yash who hadn’t moved a muscle or said a word.“She deserves better than you,” Kanak said softly, in the wake of Malvika’s exit. Yash agreed but he stayed silent, holding Kanak’s accusing gaze. “You weren’t there. You didn’t see the wreckage you left behind. We did. We helped her piece her life back together. We won’t let you break her again.” She left with a last scathing glance at him. His hand clenched on the stapler which clicked shut with a decisive snap….right on his index finger.He stared down at the finger he’d managed to staple, the pain a biting reminder to the agony shredding him from the inside. We won’t let you break her again.He might have broken her but Maya had shattered him.